Chamber and committees

The indicators are measures of sustainable development and do not specifically address access to local green space and the wider countryside. However, Indicators 1, 2, 4, 6-10, 17, 18 and 22-24 have some bearing on quality of, and access to, local green space and the wider countryside.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34855 on 25 March 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.

Indicators of Sustainable Development for Scotland describes in detail each of the indicators listed in Meeting the Needs... As stated in the introduction, the information in the report is based upon the latest figures available at the time of publication. This includes the most recent data for each indicator and, where possible, information on the differences between urban and rural areas. References to all data sources are provided in both reports.

The indicators are measures of sustainable development and do not specifically address effective protection of the environment. However, Indicators 1, 4-17 and 20 have most relevance to protection of the environment.

As stated in the introduction of the report, and in paragraph 43 of Meeting the Needs..., we will review the usefulness of the indicators in 2003. We will consider emerging opinion, such as that expressed at the World Summit, and we will add to the indicators as and when additional measures are necessary to clarify our aspirations and chart progress towards them.

The Sustainable Development Team collected the information from Scottish Executive policy divisions and statisticians and agencies and other bodies as appropriate. All data sources are explained, with references, in the report.

Since the publication of Meeting the Needs... in April 2002, we have set three new sustainable development targets and revised two others.In Meeting the Needs... we stated that further information on transport indicators would be published later in 2002. Scotland's Transport: Delivering Improvements, Transport Indicators for Scotland, published on 19 December 2002, describes the 11 indicators we have chosen to chart progress on implementing our transport policies. As a result we have set new targets for Indicator 16 - Travel: mode, and Indicator 17 - Travel: accessibility, as set out in Indicators of Sustainable Development for Scotland.A new target has also been set for Indicator 5 - Recycling, in the light of work undertaken to develop the National Waste Plan.The targets for Indicator 4 - Waste: production, and Indicator 19 - Preparing for life, have been revised, explanations for which are given on pages 12 and 46 of the report.

The indicators are measures of sustainable development and do not specifically address quality of surroundings. However, depending on the definition of "quality of surroundings", many of the indicators could be said to have some relevance.

As stated in the introduction of the report, we intend to set targets for some indicators in light of further policy and scientific work but for others it is more appropriate to monitor the trend than set a target. Action on each indicator is set out in the report. We also stated in the introduction that we would review the usefulness of the indicators in 2003 and report regularly on their status.

In April 2002, we published Meeting the Needs... Priorities, Actions and Targets for sustainable development in Scotland, which sets out our vision for sustainable development in Scotland. We have identified resource use, energy and travel as the main priority areas for action on sustainable development, and policy-makers across the Executive are encouraged to take these priority areas into account when policy decisions are made. Meeting the Needs... sets out a range of actions being taken to address these priority areas. It also lists a set of indicators and targets to help us to monitor our progress. Information on progress on each of the indicators, and summaries of the main actions we are taking to achieve our targets were published in Indicators of Sustainable Development for Scotland in February 2003.